External Sector: Recent Trends and Challenges

Monthly Bangladesh Economic Update, August 2017

The Unnayan Onneshan (UO), an independent multidisciplinary think-tank, in its monthly publication of the ‘Bangladesh Economic Update’ August 2017, reveals that monumental deficit in current account together with declining wage earner’s remittance and foreign aid disbursement exerts immense pressure on the country’s balance of payment.

Calling for a thorough reexamination of the current trade and industrial policies to address the structural bottlenecks and creation of a stable business climate to attract increased inflow of private investment including FDI, the UO urges for the adoption of new strategies to expand country’s productive capacities that enhance utilization of available resources through efficient entrepreneurial capabilities and increased production linkages.

Referring to declining rate of growth in inflows of wage earner’s remittance, the think tank shows that the inflow of remittance declined by 14.48 percent and stood at USD 12769 million in FY 2016-17 compared to the previous fiscal year. On monthly basis, the remittance inflow declined by 4.18 percent in June 2017 compared to May 2017 and stood at USD 1214.61 million, which further declined by 8.15 percent to USD 1115.57 million in July 2017.